The Cleveland Guardians are a fairly tightfisted group. They spend occasionally, frugally, and intentionally. So I used to be amused when, some three weeks in the past, they jumped to re-sign backup catcher Austin Hedges to a one-year, $4 million contract. That’s roughly 4% of what the Guardians spent on participant payroll in whole this previous season — and on a backup catcher?
Now, Hedges is among the league’s greatest defenders, on the place the place protection is of the utmost efficiency. And by all accounts he’s the perfect clubhouse man since Spanky from The Little Rascals. However he’s the worst hitter within the league. That’s not an exaggeration; Hedges hasn’t posted a wRC+ over 50 since 2018, and in his previous two seasons he hasn’t damaged 25.
Since 2019, Hedges is hitting .171/.234/.273. Of the 364 gamers who’ve taken 1,000 or extra plate appearances over that point, Hedges is useless final in wRC+ by an enormous margin. Jackie Bradley Jr. is in second-to-last place with a wRC+ of 67; Hedges is at 39. (Which speaks to how far you will get in baseball when you’re an elite defender and everybody likes you.)
It’s a testomony to Hedges’ different expertise that he’s managed to be an above-replacement-level participant regardless of his offensive inadequacies. But it surely’s simply not the Guardians’ model to fall over themselves to re-sign a place participant — even a backup catcher — with an offensive monitor file like this. Certainly Cleveland might’ve discovered one other good cling with good framing numbers elsewhere in the marketplace. Proper?
Properly, having examined the out there choices… no. Free agent catching expertise is so scarce this yr, bringing again Hedges for $4 million truly is sensible. The Rockies additionally elected to re-sign the satan they know, Jacob Stallings, who will flip 35 subsequent month. My condolences to Stallings on having a birthday inside per week of Christmas; I can solely hope his new $2.5 million contract will enable him to purchase the happiness he certainly misplaced in a childhood of mixed birthday-Christmas presents.
Stallings isn’t in Hedges’ class as a defender — few are — however after a profession stuffed with poor offense, he hit .263/.357/.453 in 281 plate appearances for Colorado. Even in Coors Discipline, that’s a 114 wRC+. Regression is perhaps on the way in which (Stallings outperformed his xSLG by 69 factors, to offer one related level of knowledge), nevertheless it’s higher than what’s on the market.
In actual fact, let’s have a look at what’s on the market. Stallings and Hedges are spoken for, as is Travis d’Arnaud, a 35-year-old coming off half a season of hitting .238/.302/.436 with common protection behind the plate. That makes d’Arnaud the cream of this free agent crop.
What number of free agent catchers do you assume are nonetheless on the market who produced at the very least 0.5 win in both 2023 or 2024, or are projected to take action in 2025? That’s not a excessive bar, proper? Half a win in any one in every of three seasons, one in every of which isn’t even actual but? But solely 10 gamers might meet it.
The Greatest Remaining Free Agent Catchers, Reminiscent of They Are
| Title | Age | G | PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | xwOBA | wRC+ | Off | Def | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carson Kelly | 29 | 91 | 313 | .238 | .313 | .374 | .304 | .317 | 99 | -3.5 | 10.5 | 1.8 |
| Kyle Higashioka | 34 | 84 | 263 | .220 | .263 | .476 | .314 | .301 | 105 | 0.3 | 6.0 | 1.6 |
| Yasmani Grandal | 35 | 72 | 243 | .228 | .304 | .400 | .308 | .327 | 95 | -2.6 | 7.7 | 1.4 |
| Danny Jansen | 29 | 94 | 324 | .205 | .309 | .349 | .294 | .292 | 90 | -4.8 | -0.5 | 0.6 |
| Elias Díaz | 33 | 96 | 351 | .265 | .313 | .382 | .303 | .280 | 81 | -10.7 | 4.1 | 0.5 |
| Gary Sánchez | 31 | 89 | 280 | .220 | .307 | .392 | .307 | .315 | 96 | -2.6 | -3.4 | 0.3 |
| Christian Bethancourt | 32 | 62 | 147 | .209 | .241 | .367 | .263 | .274 | 66 | -5.5 | 2.8 | 0.2 |
| James McCann | 34 | 66 | 233 | .234 | .279 | .388 | .288 | .315 | 89 | -4.4 | -1.5 | 0.2 |
| Reese McGuire | 29 | 53 | 158 | .209 | .280 | .295 | .259 | .285 | 60 | -7.5 | 3.8 | 0.2 |
| Yan Gomes | 36 | 34 | 96 | .154 | .179 | .242 | .184 | .266 | 16 | -9.7 | -5.0 | -1.2 |
Candy Jesus.
In just a few of those circumstances, the offense isn’t that unhealthy. The 2 youngest gamers on the record — Kelly and Jansen — are literally intriguing. Kelly, who’s modified groups midseason two years in a row, hit .302/.388/.419 towards lefties and held his personal towards righties, with a wRC+ of 92. (Take platoon splits for a 313-plate look season for what they’re value.) Each Kelly and Jansen struggled after midseason trades, however Jansen slugged .487 as a part-time participant from 2021 to 2023, and doubtless represents the perfect remaining possibility for authentic offense behind the plate.
Grandal’s general numbers with Pittsburgh have been higher than I assumed they’d be, and he — together with Sánchez and McCann — is an possibility for these GMs who place a premium on remembering guys who have been good just a few years in the past.
You’ll discover that none of those catchers performed a ton. None of those 10 gamers batted even 400 instances in 2024; the ten of them put collectively have solely six seasons of 400 or extra PA and solely a single season of 500 or extra PA since 2020.
I assume that’s probably not a dealbreaker; it’s fairly widespread for groups to go together with a platoon or another form of time share at catcher. In 2024, solely 9 catchers certified for the batting title — and right here I’m counting all plate appearances by gamers with catcher as their main place, so this contains Salvador Perez taking part in first base and issues of that nature — and solely 16 had 400 or extra plate appearances.
Maybe catchers are going the way in which of the beginning pitcher, the place the bodily and technical calls for of the place are too nice for one particular person to bear for an entire season. The fashionable catching platoon is the place participant model of the de facto seven- or eight-man beginning rotation.
Or perhaps it solely seems to be like a vendor’s marketplace for catchers as a result of everybody who’s involved in shopping for already has one.
Right here’s a listing of 21 groups that both completed over .500 in 2024 or at present have a projected payroll within the prime half of the league for 2025, in keeping with RosterResource. These are the groups I’d describe as both contenders or contender-curious. I’ve included every crew’s general wRC+ and WAR totals at catcher in 2024, in addition to the present projected starter for 2025.
Contender-Curious Catching Conditions
What stands out instantly is that the majority of those groups have completely good catchers already. It’s a mix of latest prime prospects, extremely paid free agent signings, and homegrown breakout stars. Just a few groups — and I’m talking principally in regards to the Blue Jays and Rangers right here — are most likely disenchanted with their manufacturing in 2024, however their incumbent starters have been excellent very lately and must have an opportunity to bounce again.
I depend 4 groups on this record — the Tigers, Padres, Cubs, and Twins — that would stand to improve. And even that is perhaps uncharitable. Twins backstop Ryan Jeffers hit 21 house runs final yr. Jake Rogers can’t hit a lick, however he grades out as an outstanding defender, and perhaps the Tigers are relying on the Age of Dillon Dingler dawning within the spring.
Nonetheless, let’s have a look at the place the highest two free agent catchers, by projected 2025 WAR, began this previous season. Kelly was with the Tigers, and Higashioka was with the Padres. Simply run it again — that’s what everybody else is doing.
